BACKGROUND:Stress is a known cause of hair loss in many species.OBJECTIVE:In this study, we investigated the role of acute stress on hair growth using a rat model.METHODS:Rats were immobilized for 24 hours and blood samples, and skin biopsies were taken. The effect of stress-serum on the in vitro proliferation of rat and human dermal papilla cells (hDPCs), as well as serum cortisol and corticotropin-releasing hormone levels, were measured. Mast cell staining was performed on the biopsied tissue. In addition, Western blot and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction were used to assess mast cell tryptase and cytokine expression, respectively in rat skin biopsies.RESULTS:Stress-serum treatment reduced significantly the number of viable hDPCs and arrested the cell cycle in the G1 phase, compared to serum from unrestrained rats (p<0.05, respectively). Moreover, restrained rats had significantly higher levels of cortisol in serum than unrestrained rats (p<0.01). Acute stress serum increased mast cell numbers and mast cell tryptase expression, as well as inducing interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β up-regulation.CONCLUSION:These results suggest that acute stress also has an inhibitory effect on hair growth via cortisol release in addition to substance P-mast cell pathway.KEYWORDS:Cortisol; Dermal papilla; Hair; Mast cells; Rats; Stress; physiological

Personally, stress is the #1 factor for my hair loss. I remember about the time my hairloss started in freshmen year of uni, when i would take long breaks in the winter and summers, i would literally see new hair follicles pop up in areas that had receded in the months prior. Fast fwd 6 years, same thing would happen when I would go on extended vacations of up to 2 weeks, away from my high stress job in finance: unexpected regrowth. The older i get however, now in my 30's, those days of random terminal hair pop ups and far and few between. All in all, the IH regimen and tips here have definitely slowed down my hairloss and most definitely improved my health.Question to CS and the forum, any other stress mitigators besides ashwagandha you can recommend?

slowbutspeeding wrote:Personally, stress is the #1 factor for my hair loss. I remember about the time my hairloss started in freshmen year of uni, when i would take long breaks in the winter and summers, i would literally see new hair follicles pop up in areas that had receded in the months prior. Fast fwd 6 years, same thing would happen when I would go on extended vacations of up to 2 weeks, away from my high stress job in finance: unexpected regrowth. The older i get however, now in my 30's, those days of random terminal hair pop ups and far and few between. All in all, the IH regimen and tips here have definitely slowed down my hairloss and most definitely improved my health.Question to CS and the forum, any other stress mitigators besides ashwagandha you can recommend?

Yes, one way to mitigate stress via CRF inhibition: I wrote the following article about it.

slowbutspeeding wrote:Personally, stress is the #1 factor for my hair loss. I remember about the time my hairloss started in freshmen year of uni, when i would take long breaks in the winter and summers, i would literally see new hair follicles pop up in areas that had receded in the months prior. Fast fwd 6 years, same thing would happen when I would go on extended vacations of up to 2 weeks, away from my high stress job in finance: unexpected regrowth. The older i get however, now in my 30's, those days of random terminal hair pop ups and far and few between. All in all, the IH regimen and tips here have definitely slowed down my hairloss and most definitely improved my health.Question to CS and the forum, any other stress mitigators besides ashwagandha you can recommend?

Yes, one way to mitigate stress via CRF inhibition: I wrote the following article about it.

slowbutspeeding wrote:Personally, stress is the #1 factor for my hair loss. I remember about the time my hairloss started in freshmen year of uni, when i would take long breaks in the winter and summers, i would literally see new hair follicles pop up in areas that had receded in the months prior. Fast fwd 6 years, same thing would happen when I would go on extended vacations of up to 2 weeks, away from my high stress job in finance: unexpected regrowth. The older i get however, now in my 30's, those days of random terminal hair pop ups and far and few between. All in all, the IH regimen and tips here have definitely slowed down my hairloss and most definitely improved my health.Question to CS and the forum, any other stress mitigators besides ashwagandha you can recommend?

Two things that have helped me immensely with reducing stress are meditation and magnesium+calcium.

magnesium+calcium for me allowed me to experience sleep like I never have before. My worst night of sleep is now better than my best night before i started supplementation. I've been taking it every night for around 3 months and I've seen amazing results. My chronic acne has even halted in its tracks it seems.

Do you take it at night? I take magnesium glycinate by KAL, and I usually take it with food, to avoid side effects. I read that glycinate has the best absorption of all the forms. I was worried that taking glycinate long term would lead to too much magnesium, but people have said that it's fine.

I don't eat much dairy due to my diet (or I try not to, lol), so my calcium must come from other sources like vegetables and seafood. I don't want to supplement with it though, I read too many negatives about that.

Magnesium I think is also a must have. Totally agree on those previous posts. If you food sources of calcium are decent, then taking supplemental calcium is not necessary. I use Greek yogurt often times, or pizza as my calcium source (my gut can handle it).

CausticSymmetry wrote:Kale in juice form I understand is about 2:1 vs milk per ounce.

Also, I think the calcium in kale is even more easily absorbed, or something like that? Or is the 2-1 ratio considering absorption?

i don't know anything about that. but i can tell you an entire plate full of kale, like literally take a normal sized plate and fill the entire plate full of kale completely and start stacking it, it is not enough calcium even for one day. that entire thing of kale is not enough. you will puke with the amount of kale you need to eat. i know because i tried to do it before.

if you want to know for sure, get your prolactin and parathyroid hormone checked, they will go up if you dont get enough calcium.

it's a very dangerous slippery slope that you dont want to get caught on.. im telling you the amount of kale you need is a lot.. and you need to do it... every..single... day.. if you dont, your calcium is going to be leeched from your bones, being talk about calcification being a part of balding, well good job, you are now going to start the calcification process because you arent getting enough calcium in your diet... im just saying, if you are really good about it and do get your calcium everyday, then good on you, but dont just assume the internet is right and say, oh yeah kale is enough calcium everyday, and you eat like this side range of it and consider your self ok. even 32oz of milk, like a min carton of milk, is not enough calcium everyday. like you need a lot of calcium dude to lower prolactin. prolactin surges after masturbation and it inhibits testosterone... it tells women to start making breast milk... it increases estrogen in your body.

if you do decide to get calcium from kale.. then you better track it or you will regret it.

slowbutspeeding wrote:Personally, stress is the #1 factor for my hair loss. I remember about the time my hairloss started in freshmen year of uni, when i would take long breaks in the winter and summers, i would literally see new hair follicles pop up in areas that had receded in the months prior. Fast fwd 6 years, same thing would happen when I would go on extended vacations of up to 2 weeks, away from my high stress job in finance: unexpected regrowth. The older i get however, now in my 30's, those days of random terminal hair pop ups and far and few between. All in all, the IH regimen and tips here have definitely slowed down my hairloss and most definitely improved my health.Question to CS and the forum, any other stress mitigators besides ashwagandha you can recommend?

For several years, stress has been the major factor for me. I'm in a similar situation, as work has been the source of stress. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a workaround.

When I turned 20 and noticed the receding hairline and diffuse thinning, there was a 1-2 year period when I spent all my time researching hair loss and other health issues. I eliminated all grains except for rice, and all refined and processed foods. My diet consisted mostly of organic vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grass fed meat and wild-caught fish. Something else worth noting was that all of the cooked food was consumed fresh. Cooked food, even when refrigerated, will accumulate oxidized lipids. I loaded up on foods like cacao, green tea, garlic, onions, turmeric, celery, etc. During that time my hair became so thick that I could barely run a comb through it. The health improvements were also visible in the face - clear eyes and smooth skin.

I think when all sources of stress are removed, both dietary and psychological/social (eg., work is a type of social stress) the body is able to thrive in the most amazing way.

The only downside is that during those two years, I was totally disengaged from the "real world". In many ways, living that lifestyle could be considered irresponsible. Because you are disavowing responsibilities.

Still, I believe that work exerts a unique and unnatural stress on people. I have not found a way to counteract the effects through diet and supplements.

slowbutspeeding wrote:Personally, stress is the #1 factor for my hair loss. I remember about the time my hairloss started in freshmen year of uni, when i would take long breaks in the winter and summers, i would literally see new hair follicles pop up in areas that had receded in the months prior. Fast fwd 6 years, same thing would happen when I would go on extended vacations of up to 2 weeks, away from my high stress job in finance: unexpected regrowth. The older i get however, now in my 30's, those days of random terminal hair pop ups and far and few between. All in all, the IH regimen and tips here have definitely slowed down my hairloss and most definitely improved my health.Question to CS and the forum, any other stress mitigators besides ashwagandha you can recommend?

For several years, stress has been the major factor for me. I'm in a similar situation, as work has been the source of stress. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a workaround.

When I turned 20 and noticed the receding hairline and diffuse thinning, there was a 1-2 year period when I spent all my time researching hair loss and other health issues. I eliminated all grains except for rice, and all refined and processed foods. My diet consisted mostly of organic vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grass fed meat and wild-caught fish. Something else worth noting was that all of the cooked food was consumed fresh. Cooked food, even when refrigerated, will accumulate oxidized lipids. I loaded up on foods like cacao, green tea, garlic, onions, turmeric, celery, etc. During that time my hair became so thick that I could barely run a comb through it. The health improvements were also visible in the face - clear eyes and smooth skin.

I think when all sources of stress are removed, both dietary and psychological/social (eg., work is a type of social stress) the body is able to thrive in the most amazing way.

The only downside is that during those two years, I was totally disengaged from the "real world". In many ways, living that lifestyle could be considered irresponsible. Because you are disavowing responsibilities.

Still, I believe that work exerts a unique and unnatural stress on people. I have not found a way to counteract the negative effects through diet and supplements.

Hey radical

How did you manage your stress? I am trying to manage it with exercise/yoga.

Also you mention vegetables, I recently started making green smoothies and am having a lot of fun with it. For someone like me, who would take literally 10 minutes to eat two stalks of celery, I can blend it up and drink it no problem.